Terrence Malick May Lose ‘Lawless’ Title As Matthew McConaughey Stops By Set to Play Congo Drums

Maybe it isn’t malicious, but the infamous distributor has once more changed the title of his late August Prohibition release — all to the potential discomfort of Terrence Malick. ThePlaylist has noted that Wettest County‘s Facebook page, publicity, and press site all point to a shorter, more to-the-point, and quite familiar moniker of Lawless. (Their old Twitter account is no longer around, for what that may also be worth.) Malick‘s might be forced to make a tough decision. Hold strong, Terry.

Okay, time for something fun. We’ve seen Malick and his Lawless actors working the music festival scene on and off these past six months; with Rooney Mara hanging around SXSW last week, we’ve got even more. ThePlaylist learned that British rock group The Cult “shot backstage footage of the band that included improvised scenes with Rooney Mara.” Good stuff — but how about Matthew McConaughey playing bongos?

If you don’t believe us, here’s a photo of the actor, Mara, and one of The Cult‘s members:

McConaughey could end up joining the film in some capacity — even if it only amounts to what was shot, thus making it more of a cameo — and that wouldn’t be the only question of involvement when it comes to Lawless. When talking to Harper’s Bazaar (via The Telegraph and ThePlaylist), Cate Blanchett (who’s also in Knight of Cups) expressed some reserve over how much she’ll add to either, saying “I can’t guarantee I’ll end up in [the final cut], as is his wont.” (You probably know this, but if not: Malick is notorious for reducing starring roles to nothing more than slivers of an appearance.) Perhaps she’s only being playful; I definitely can’t picture him cutting down an actress he’s cast in two consecutive films.

And then there’s his other, other movie, the (hopefully) 2012-bound, untitled Ben Affleck-starrer. Recent word on his romantic drama — also led by Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Amanda Peet, Rachel Weisz, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen, and Jessica Chastain — has been entirely silent for nearly three months. Now, though, Peet has revealed one thing to Reuters: she’s playing “a love interest of Ben‘s.” There you go.

Do you think Malick will alter his title on account of Weinstein? How does all these other updates strike you?